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Topic: Akers - It became a real hardship (Read 2303 times)

Vic Akers expects his side to set their sights, at the very least, on another ‘Double’ when Arsenal Ladies reconvene after a well-earned summer break.

This season, the Gunners added another Premier League and FA Cup to their already bulging trophy cabinet but missed out on the Uefa Women’s Cup. Akers insists there will be no excuses next time as the Club bids to rule at home and in Europe.

It won’t be simple. The Ladies’ manager pointed out that as the game continues to develop at its current pace, dominating, as his side have done for so many years, will become tougher by the season.

An arduous World Cup campaign in September scuppered Akers’ pre-season preparations and the knock-on effect reverberated right through the campaign. Arsenal lost their grip on the Uefa Cup as early as November and also failed in their bid to lift the League Cup for a 10th time — Everton snatching a 1-0 win over the Gunners in February.

In fact, by the end of the season Akers admits that for his squad, relief triumphed over regret.

“Obviously it has been tough for us,” Akers told Arsenal.com. “It got to the stage when the game against Leeds [the last game of the season] was a hardship rather than a pleasure.

“You could see by the end everyone had had enough. The team are pleased it's over and we can put the shutters down for a couple of months and recharge the batteries for next season.

“When we meet up again our targets have to be at least what we have done this year if not more. There are no excuses next time. There won't be a World Cup and we will have a clear season. But we must make sure we approach it properly. I think we really missed out on that this year.”

“Even without all that you couldn't expect us to do what we did in 2007. Repeating the 'Quadruple' was, to me, an impossible task. It will become much harder for other teams to do that because the levels are getting closer year by year. That is proved domestically all the time. Leeds lost to Cardiff one week and then got a draw against us the next.

“Nowadays I don’t think domestic dominance is sewn up. We won the title by five points [this season] instead of seven. It isn’t a massive gap and I think in fairness it is easily made up. We must fight to stay at the front of the game. If we want to be the front-runners we have to work hard at it.”

So is there any need to strengthen his weary squad?

“We have to look at a number of areas,” explained Akers. “The young kid, Kim Little, is a plus for us as she will get better and better. Katie Chapman will be back too. So you can see that even without bringing others in, we will be stronger. I will also be looking at the excellent young players, like Gilly Flaherty, to really push on, get more starts and become regular players.”

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“We have to look at a number of areas,” explained Akers. “The young kid, Kim Little, is a plus for us as she will get better and better. Katie Chapman will be back too. So you can see that even without bringing others in, we will be stronger. I will also be looking at the excellent young players, like Gilly Flaherty, to really push on, get more starts and become regular players.”

My understanding was there was a done deal for a young Scottish girl ?